Review of Twenty Nine Going on Thirty

Title: Twenty Nine Going on Thirty

Author: Andaleeb Wajid

Blurb:

Priya is turning thirty and is overwhelmed. Living in Bengaluru with her best friend, Farida, and working as the social media head of a software firm, she's feeling the weight of becoming a responsible thirty-year-old. Not just this, she also has to fend off her mother's persistent queries about when she intends to get married. Things begin to look up when Priya bumps into her charming new neighbour, Ajay. Sparks fly, but she soon finds out that he's a widower and has some baggage to deal with.
Thankfully, Priya finds moral support in the fact that her friends Farida, Mini and Namrata are approaching the three-O milestone too. Free-spirited Farida, shy Namrata, feisty Mini and Priya are brought together by family drama, boy trouble, and the fast-approaching birthdays. As they navigate love and friendships, they realize there's a difference between growing up and growing old . . .


My Views:

Priya, our protagonist's life has all the fundamentals most of the girls' in the twenties are subjected to. Office crunchy-bites, colleagues mishaps, roommate playing a good role in life's dilemmas, and of course stories of love to bring more spice to life. Now, why this title? You would found this pretty soon in the book- when four girls who are running to complete 30 years of their life.

Very rarely, I got the pleasure to read stories, that could hold my attention from the first page itself. No, this one doesn't! This one begins with the office drama. Well, nothing bone-chilling! What made me pulled towards the book was the foreword by Kiran Manral - 'A compelling heartwarming tale of growing up when you are already grown-up.' That said that this book could serve you something different, and something me-like. I, being in mid-twenties, could easily gel with the protagonist, and other characters. The incidents that played around didn't 't seem out of the boundary, and went well with the plot.

It was just a matter of few pages, and I found myself in the protagonist's shoes. Then what, one after another incident queued up, and I was all set to explore each of them. It was not just the protagonist who sang the song of her love-story, but there were three more characters, close to thirty, who sang their own song of love. All four stories presented as a Meal food, a combo that can let you taste different spices.

It's one such book I would like to cherish during weekends. To read it in a single sit, and skip the world for a good while. I don't like stories with long chapters. This one has 54 chapters, all incorporated in less than 250 pages. That was perfectly my weekend match. A light, quick, and rejuvenating read!

Rating: 3.8/5

Reviewer: Shweta Kesari